by Max Barry

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Region: Empire of Andrew

On an OOC note, recently I've been coming up with fictional names to refer to the landmasses in Oceania in the Orsonian language. For years now, I've realized that it wouldn't actually make sense for these regions to be called "Australia" or "New Zealand" for example, since those are names coined by European explorers and not by the native population, though I've stuck with the names mainly for convenience. For the first time however, I've decided to delve into it, and these are the names I have come up with:

Adsahul- Refers to the modern definition of Oceania, plus the Indonesian isles, the Philippines and parts of Southeast Asia. The word is a composite of three separate Orsonian words- Ad "large", Sa "circle", and Hul "south". The name basically refers to the large, circular shape of the Oceania region, and the fact that the region is south of the Eurasian mainland. The word is typically used to describe the traditional Orsonian world, and where the vast majority of Orsonians live even in modern times. Orsonians may abbreviate the word as "adsa" in casual conversation, and if speaking English, may refer to it as simply "the circle".

Tericarad- Refers to the Australian continent. In the modern usage of the word, it means "homeland", but it actually derived from two Orsonian words: Ter "arid" or "dry", and the suffix -rad, which means "land" or "land of" (similar to how -stan is used in the Persian language for "country of"; it, of course, references the fact that Australia was largely a barren desert in ancient times. Often abbreviated as "Teric" by Orsonians.

Korinrad- Refers to Tasmania. The first part of the word, Kor, means "wind". Refers to the fact that the island is located in the Roaring Forties, strong westerly winds in the southern hemisphere between 40 and 50 degrees in latitude; as such, the island has a very windy climate.

Elterradis- Refers to New Zealand. The word essentially means "the lands east of Australia" (El translates to "east). "-radis" is an extension of -rad, meaning "multiple lands" instead of a single land (referring to New Zealand's two islands).

Fudoarad- Refers to New Guinea. Fudoa translates to "jungle" or "forest"; the word itself is an extension of the word Fud, meaning "tree". It references the large amount of jungles that cover the island.

Riviyarad- By its technical definition, the word refers to the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia, plus much of modern Indochina, Malaysia, and Thailand. Riviya is an Orsonian corruption of the Sanskrit-derived "Srivijaya". The Srivijaya Empire was a Buddhist thalassocratic nation that controlled either all or portions of the region previously described, until its conquest by the Orsonian Crocodilians in the 9th century AD, and its subsequent settlement by Orsonian colonists. Despite its specific definition, the name is also commonly used to refer to all of the Indonesian islands.

Andurad- A general term referring to all of the Indian subcontinent. Andu is an Orsonian corruption of "Hindu", derived from the Persian name for India and Hinduism.

Halsuradis- Refers to the Phillippines. Hal means "north", and "su" means isle; thus, the name means "northern isles", referring to the Philippines position as the northernmost lands in Adsahul. The Philippines has had a large Orsonian population for centuries, to the point that many Orsonians consider the islands to be a nominal part of the Empire. This has been a major point of contention between the Orsonians and Wagains for a long time.

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